do you remember this post? when i thought, before bean, that cloth diapering was the diapering method i wanted to use? and then i realized that cloth diapering wasn't for me?
well, despite my good intentions, i have recently had another parenting revelation. you see, before bean, i thought that without a doubt i would make my own baby food. we eat alot of vegetables. i would just buy extra and puree them for bean. i mean how hard could it be? and besides i wanted to set a good food example for the beginning. ph and i love food, good food, so of course our offspring will follow in our foodie footsteps. i somehow thought that making baby food would make me a better parent or justify being a stay at home mom.
and then it hit me. while it is noble to make your own baby food. and i applaud those who do..... it is not how i want to spend my free time. i would rather spend my free time creating, not in the kitchen. and that is ok. it doesn't mean i am less of a mother or invalidate my role as stay at home mom. it doesn't really mean anything, other than i do not want to do it. and besides gerber baby food is just fine. they have been nourishing babies for years. babies don't eat mushy food for long and they do make organic. so bean, will be just fine eating the version i can buy at wegman's
i am learning that much of parenthood is about what works for you and your family. i entered motherhood with a lot of ideas of how i thought it was supposed to be and am learning that there is no right or wrong way to parent ( as long as you are not harming your child, obviously). and that freedom is one of the best things about this role. i am slowly learning to embrace it and trusting my gut more and more.
well at least for today.
Good for you. I think this is a huge lesson. It took me a good three years of motherhood and an whole other baby to learn this one. It's really good that you learned this early. I think you are doing great job and you are a fantastic mother. He does adore you. I see the way he looks at you.
ReplyDeleteI tried making my own once. I spent two hours peeling, pitting and pureeing peaches. He wouldn't eat a bite. But, when I opened a jar of Gerber peaches, he loved them. That was one of the first lessons in motherhood that i remember learning. They always like someone else's peaches better.
I agree - I hated how much we used jars of baby food when my son was first on solids. But from about one year on he's been eating the same food as us, and looking back the period he was eating 'baby food' was such a tiny tiny part of his life! Definitely not worth worrying about.
ReplyDeleteI had the same revelation about cloth diapering with my 2nd when she was 1 week old. I just hated it!!
ReplyDeleteI did make baby food for my first- my husband and I are "foodies" and I like good food too. We will see if I make it again with #2 when I have #1 running around.
I am totally with you on needing to do what is right for your family. Just sometimes there is stress leading up to figuring that out!
Oh, Lucinda! -- I'm coming to these realizations already, too, and I'm only 13 weeks preggers! We'll still give those reusable diapers a whirl, though.....Sam's the laundry guy! Let's see how long it lasts....
ReplyDelete-Liz